System and method for manufacturing physical barriers

ABSTRACT

A physical barrier having a carrier device and a sealer material applied to the carrier device. The sealer material is configured to expand when it is activated. In its pre-activation state, the sealer material is flowable. The sealer material is applied directly to the carrier in its pre-activation state through a dispensing orifice without being previously molded.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] This invention relates to the field of physical barriers used toseal openings in panel members or other objects.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Physical barriers are commonly used to seal openings in certainobjects, such as panel members in motor vehicles, buildings, householdappliances, etc. These barriers normally are used to prevent physicalmaterials, fluids, and gases such as environmental contaminants, fumes,dirt, dust moisture, water, etc., from passing through the opening inthe object. For example, an automotive panel member, such as a doorpanel, typically has several openings in the sheet metal, which arecreated for various reasons during manufacturing. Further, variousstructural components of automobile bodies have a variety of orifices,hollow posts, cavities, passages and openings (collectively, “openings”)that can allow contaminants into the passenger compartment. Theseopenings are preferably sealed before the vehicle is delivered to theend customer.

[0003] Known physical barriers usually include a sealer material appliedto a carrier device, which typically comprises a molded-plasticcomponent. Heretofore, the sealer has been molded into a relativelyrigid component, the shape of which being adapted to fit on or withinpredetermined areas, i.e., “placement areas”, on the carrier. Eachsealer/carrier combination has been designed (in shape and size) tomatch a particular opening (having a similar shape and size) in a givenpanel member. The carrier is generally adapted to fill the majority ofthe opening, while the sealer is adapted to seal around the interfacebetween the carrier and the perimeter of the opening. Many times, thesealer comprises a material that can be activated to expand and seal theinterface between the carrier and the edges of the panel member thatdefine the opening. Such sealers can be activated in a variety of ways,including by a temperature change (usually the application of heat) orby the introduction of a chemical agent. For example, one common methodof activating heat-activated sealers used on automobiles is to allow theelevated temperatures applied to the vehicle during the coating and/orpainting processes to activate the sealers and cause them to expand,thereby creating a complete seal around the openings.

[0004] A significant drawback to known barriers is that they arelabor-intensive to manufacture. Known methods of manufacture involvespecifically molding the sealer material into a rigid component whoseshape matches that of its corresponding position on or within thecarrier. Then, the molded sealer component has been manually installedonto or into the carrier. The manual installation of the molded sealercomponent is particularly difficult because the allowed workspace forworkers to perform this function is typically very limited, and the taskrequires good fine motor control. In effect, the steps of molding thesealer material into a rigid shape and manually placing the moldedsealer material into or onto a carrier are significant components in theoverall cost and time required to manufacture physical barriers of thistype.

[0005] Consequently, the inventors hereof have recognized a need for animproved system and method of manufacturing physical barriers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] The present invention relates to an improved physical barrier anda system and method for manufacturing the improved barrier. Theinventive system includes a flowable, pre-activation, expandable sealermaterial and a dispensing orifice configured to dispense the sealermaterial directly onto a carrier.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007]FIG. 1 shows a cut away view of an illustrative physical barrierinstalled on a panel member with a sealer material in a pre-activationstate.

[0008]FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of a physical barrier according toan embodiment of the present invention.

[0009]FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of a physical barrieraccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0010]FIG. 4 shows a top view of an embodiment of a system used toimplement the present invention.

[0011]FIG. 5 shows a top view of an embodiment of a system used toimplement the present invention.

[0012]FIG. 6 shows a top view of an embodiment of a system used toimplement the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0013] To illustrate a sample environment in which physical barriers areused to seal openings, cavities and other openings, FIG. 1 shows a panelmember 2, such as an automobile door panel, in which a barrier 10 hasbeen inserted into an opening 4. As seen in the cut away, barrier 10includes a pre-activation sealer material 12 and a carrier 14. Afteractivation of the sealer material, the barrier 10 acts to seal theopening and to prevent air, water, sound, dirt, and other particles frompassing through the opening.

[0014]FIGS. 2 and 3 show different magnified views of a physical barrier10 for sealing an opening according to an embodiment of the presentinvention, wherein like elements are identified by like numerals.Barrier 10 comprises a carrier device 14 and a sealer material 12applied thereto. The carrier 14 can be designed to be of any shape thatis appropriate to fill an opening or a cavity. The sealer material 12 isan expandable sealer that expands upon being activated. Further, thesealer material 12 is flowable (liquid) in its pre-activation state. Thesealer material 12 is applied to the carrier 14 from a dispenser device(not shown in FIGS. 2 and 3) during manufacture of the barrier 10. Thesealer material 12 is applied during manufacture of the barrier 10 inits pre-activation, liquid state. As shown in FIG. 3, the carrier 14preferably includes a sealer placement area 16, such as a ledge, wherethe flowable sealer material 12 is applied and supported by the carrier14. The placement area 16 can also be in the form of troughs or wells 19on a surface of carrier 14, as shown in FIG. 2. Further, the carrier 14preferably includes handling structures 15 that facilitate engagementwith a movement device that can be used to position the carrier 14relative to a dispensing device (not shown) to receive the sealermaterial 12. For example, the movement device could be a robot arm thatengages the handling structure 15 to move the carrier 14 from onelocation to another. The handling structures 15 can be of virtually anyshape or construction, provided that they are engagable with a movementdevice to position and manipulate the carrier during the manufactureprocess. Finally, the carrier 14 also preferably includes installationstructures 17, which facilitate the final installation of the carrier 14into an opening or cavity.

[0015] Sealer material 12 can comprise a variety of sealers, but it ispreferably one that expands upon activation, such as in response to achange in temperature or an introduction of a chemical compound. In oneembodiment of the invention, the sealer material 12 is a heat-activatedexpanding foam sealer. The sealer material 12 should be flowable priorto being activated. That is, prior to being expanded, the sealermaterial 12 should have a viscosity that is sufficiently low to allowthe material to flow through a dispensing device and allow the sealermaterial 12 to take on various shapes defined by the carrier 14. On theother hand, the viscosity of the pre-activation sealer material 12should be sufficiently high such that the sealer material remainsessentially stationary once it is applied to the carrier 14. Preferredsealer materials include those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,266,133;6,150,428; 6,368,438; and 6,387,470, the disclosures of which beingincorporated herein by reference. More preferred sealer materialsinclude those that are commercially-available from Sika Corporationunder the marks, SikaBaffle® and SikaReinforcer®. The most preferredsealer material is commercially-available SikaBaffle®240.

[0016] The carrier 14 may be manufactured from a variety of conventionalmaterials, provided that the shape of the carrier 14 remainssubstantially unchanged in response to the stimulus used to activate thesealer materials 12. For example, when physical barriers manufacturedaccording to the present invention are used to seal openings inautomotive door panels, the carrier 14 should be made of a materialcapable of withstanding the elevated temperatures associated with thecoating and painting steps of the automobile manufacturing process,which is typically used to activate the sealer material. While thecarrier 14 can be made from a variety of materials (including severalmetals), it is preferred that the carrier 14 is manufactured fromplastic due to the reduced weight and lower force required to installthe carrier into an opening. Nylon is the preferred plastic material formanufacturing carriers 14.

[0017] A physical barrier 10 of the present invention is preferablymanufactured according to the following procedure and system. Thephysical barrier 10 is preferably manufactured using an automatedassembly line or station of a type known in the art. Generally, acollection of blank carrier devices 14 (without sealer material) arestored or stacked at the beginning of the assembly line or station. Insuccession, the blank carrier devices are automatically positionedrelative to a dispensing device such that the dispensing device canapply the flowable, expandable, pre-activation sealer material 12 to thecarrier device 14. The pre-activation sealer material is applied to theplacement area(s) on the carrier 14. As described above, the placementarea(s) may comprise a variety of areas, such as a ledge 16, a trough ora well 19. The amount of sealer applied to the placement area can bevaried to customize the sound characteristics of the panel device. Forexample, additional sealer material can be applied to decrease the soundtransmission through the panel device, and less sealer can be applied toincrease the sound transmission through the panel device. Typically,after being manufactured, the barrier (with the pre-activation sealer)is provided to a third party, who installs the barrier into the panelmember requiring sealing and later causes the sealer to be activated.

[0018] Since the sealer material 12 is applied to the carrier 14 in itsflowable state, no separate molding step is required to form rigidsealer components whose shapes match those of corresponding placementareas on the carriers 14. Further, this method of applying the flowablesealer material eliminates the prior art step of manually inserting therigid sealer elements into the carrier. Additionally, this method makesit easy to change the amount of pre-activation material applied to thecarrier 14—thereby customizing the sound characteristics of the panelmember—without creating new molds and otherwise creating new pre-formedrigid sealer components.

[0019] The dispensing device may comprise a variety of known nozzlescapable of dispensing a flowable, expandable sealer material. Thedispensing device may be moveable or stationary. Typically, if thedispensing device is stationary, the manufacturing process includesmoving the barrier 10 relative to the dispensing device so that thedispensing device can apply the flowable sealer material 12. If, on theother hand, the dispensing device is moveable, the process normallyincludes maintaining the barrier 10 stationary while the sealer material12 is applied. While many embodiments of the dispensing device may beemployed, it is preferred that the dispensing device include a movablerobot arm with a dispensing orifice (nozzle) mounted thereon. Thedispensing device may also include pumps, motors, metering devices, andholding tanks, as are known in the art, to facilitate the dispensing ofsealer material 12 onto the carrier 14.

[0020] While the automated assembly line or station used to manufacturephysical barriers according to the present invention can comprise avariety of known systems, FIGS. 4, 5, and 6 illustrate three exemplarysystems that can be used. Referring first to FIG. 4, an automated system18 includes trays 24 and 26 and reciprocating tables 28 and 30. Trays 24and 26 are each adapted to hold a single carrier 14. The trays 24 and 26rest on respective tables 28 and 30. Tables 28 and 30 are configured tobe automatically moved in a reciprocal fashion back and forth from adispensing device 32 (as shown by arrows 33 and 35). Dispensing device32 includes movable robotic dispensing arm 36, which is mounted todispensing device 32 at an elevated position (relative to the dispensingdevice 32) at axis point 38. The dispensing arm 36 is mountedsufficiently high so as to allow the reciprocating tables 28, 30 to passbelow the dispensing arm 36. The dispensing arm 36 includes a dispensingoutlet 34, which is configured to dispense the flowable sealer material12 onto a carrier device 14. An electronic controller (not shown) isgenerally used to control the movement of the various components of thesystem, as well as the application of sealer material 12 through thedispensing orifice 34.

[0021] The system shown in FIG. 4 operates as follows. A blank carrierdevice 14 is taken from a blank parts storage area 42 and placed on tray24. The reciprocating table 20 moves so as to position the tray 24within range of the movable arm 36. The arm 36 rotates about the pivotaxis 38 so that the dispensing orifice 34 passes over the carrier 14.The dispensing orifice 34 dispenses the pre-activation flowable sealermaterial 12 onto the carrier 14. The combination of the arc pathtraveled by the arm 36 and the linear motion of the table 20 allows thedispensing device 32 to control the application of the sealer materialso as to cover any portion of the carrier 14. When the sealer material12 has been fully applied to the carrier 14, the table 20 is retrievedfrom the dispensing device 32 and the carrier 14 (now having sealer 12applied to it) is taken from tray 24 and stored in finished partsstorage area 40.

[0022] While the blank carrier 14 on tray 24 is being moved to withinrange of the arm 36, the table 30 is moved away from the dispensingdevice 32, where it is prepared to receive its own blank carrier device14 from the parts storage area 42. When table 20 is retrieved from thedispensing device 32, table 30 is moved into range of the arm 36, whichis rotated about its connection axis 38 so as to be positioned over thetable 20. Then, sealer material is applied to the carrier positioned ontable 30, as described above.

[0023]FIG. 5 illustrates another embodiment of a system that could beemployed to perform the present invention. The system shown in FIG. 5includes a conveyor belt 48 and multiple trays 50. Each tray 50 isconfigured to hold a blank carrier device 14. The conveyor belt 48 isgenerally arc-shaped and carries multiple trays 50 from a blank partsarea 54, toward a dispensing device 52, as shown by arrow 55. Thedispensing device 52 is configured to apply sealer material 12 onto thecarriers 14 passing by it. The dispensing device 52 may accomplish thisfunction in a variety of ways. For example, the dispensing device 52 mayhave a moveable arm (not shown) as described above that is configured topass over the trays 55 as they pass by and dispense the sealer material12. Alternatively, the conveyor belt 48 may be configured to pass thetrays 55 into the dispensing device, where the carriers 14 are passedunder a stationary dispensing orifice that applies the sealer material12. Regardless of the method employed by dispensing device 52, after thesealer material 12 is applied to the carriers 14, they are transportedto the finished parts area 56 by conveyor belt 48, as shown by arrow 59.

[0024]FIG. 6 illustrates yet another embodiment of a system that couldbe employed to implement the present invention. The system shown in FIG.6 includes a turntable 62, upon which multiple trays 64 are positioned.Each of the trays is configured to hold a carrier device 14. Theturntable 62 is configured to rotate about its center in the direction,for example, shown by arrows 63. As each tray 64 passes by blank partsstorage area 68, a blank carrier 14 is placed in the tray 64. Theturntable 62 causes the tray (now holding a blank carrier 14) to bepassed by or through a dispensing device 66. The dispensing device 66includes a dispensing orifice 72, which is configured to dispense sealermaterial 12 and apply the sealer material to a blank carrier 14. As inpreviously-described embodiments, the dispensing orifice 72 may bepositioned at the end of a moveable or stationary arm mounted such thatblank carriers can be moved beneath the dispensing orifice 72. When ablank carrier 14 is passed under the dispensing orifice 72, the sealermaterial 12 is applied to the blank carrier 14. Then, the carrier 14 ismoved to a finished parts area 74 by the turntable 62.

[0025] While the invention hereof has been specifically described inconnection with certain specific embodiments thereof, one skilled in theart will recognize that various modifications could be made to thoseembodiments and still be within the scope of the invention. For example,while it is preferable to apply the flowable sealer material to a“placement area”, such as a trough, well or ledge, the flowable sealermaterial can actually be applied to virtually any surface of the carrierand still function appropriately. Further, while the present inventionhas been described in connection with different embodiments of automatedsystems that could be used to implement the present invention, oneskilled in the art will recognize other systems that could be usedequally advantageously. For example, the dispensing orifice may beembodied in a robot arm that can be moved in one, two, or threedimensions. Alternatively, the dispensing orifice can be heldstationary, while the carrier devices are moved relative to thedispensing orifice. Accordingly, the specific embodiments describedherein are for purposes of illustration only and not of limitation, andthe scope of the appended claims should be construed as broadly as theprior art will permit.

What is claimed is:
 1. A barrier-manufacturing system comprising: aflowable, pre-activation, expandable sealer material; and a dispensingorifice configured to dispense said sealer material onto a carrier, saidcarrier being configured to be installed on an object having an opening.2. The system of claim 1, wherein said dispensing orifice is positionedon a robot arm.
 3. The system of claim 1, further comprising a movementdevice configured to position said carrier relative to said dispensingorifice prior to said dispensing orifice dispensing said sealermaterial.
 4. The system of claim 3, wherein said movement device isselected from a group consisting of a conveyor belt, a reciprocatingtable, and a turntable.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein said sealermaterial is heat-activated.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein saidsealer material is chemically-activated.
 7. The system of claim 1,wherein said dispensing orifice is configured to apply an amount of saidsealer material to said carrier corresponding to a desired soundtransmission level through the barrier.
 8. A method of manufacturing aphysical barrier, comprising the steps: changing a relative physicalpositioning between a dispensing orifice and a carrier, said carrierbeing adapted to be installed on an object having an opening; andapplying a flowable, pre-activation, expandable sealer material to saidcarrier from a dispensing orifice.
 9. The method of claim 8, furthercomprising the steps: determining a desired sound transmissioncharacteristic of the physical barrier; and applying an amount of saidflowable, pre-activation, expandable sealer material corresponding tosaid determined desired sound transmission characteristic.
 10. Themethod of claim 8, wherein said changing step comprises holding saidcarrier stationary and moving said dispensing orifice.
 11. The method ofclaim 8, wherein said changing step comprises holding said dispensingorifice stationary and moving said carrier.
 12. The method of claim 8,wherein said changing step comprises moving said dispensing orifice andsaid carrier simultaneously.
 13. A physical barrier, comprising acarrier device configured to be installed on an object having anopening; and a pre-activation, non-molded, expandable sealer materialapplied to said carrier.
 14. The physical barrier of claim 13, whereinan amount of said sealer applied to the carrier corresponds to a desiredsound transmission characteristic of the barrier.
 15. The physicalbarrier of claim 13, wherein said sealer is applied to a placement areaon said carrier, said placement area being chosen from a group of aledge, a trough, and a well.
 16. The physical barrier of claim 15,wherein said sealer material is heat-activated.
 17. The physical barrierof claim 15, wherein said sealer material is chemically-activated.